If I were to be able to go back and tell my 8-year old self that I would be standing here tonight in front of all of you, she would probably be in disbelief… and let’s face it, she would probably be stressing herself out about this speech for the next almost 30 years. In case you didn’t hear what I said due to my sobbing in my short interview when I first received the Golden Apple, this is entirely a full circle moment for me.
My third grade teacher at Edison Park Mrs. Adkins made me realize what I wanted to do in life; teach. She was kind, smart, intuitive, and built so much confidence in me. When she read “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in her rocking chair as we sat on the carpet, I felt joy, I was entranced, I felt a sense of magic. That day, I decided I wanted to become a teacher that made kids feel something special as well. Edison Park is magic in itself. If you were a former student, parent of a student, or teacher, you know the impact and lasting memories Edison Park creates. Now, I get to enjoy it from all three perspectives.
After graduating college on a Sunday evening 14 years ago, I packed up my small Honda, drove through the night, and started teaching out in Lehigh Acres the very next day. I stayed there for 11 years. I held various roles, 3rd, 4th, 5th, Math Coach, Testing Coordinator, you name it. There I truly confirmed my love for teaching, made some of the best friends, and encountered the sweetest and most hard working students.
As all teachers do at some point, I fell into a rut. Between COVID, my own health struggles, and multiple hurricanes… I felt defeated. After weighing options, I told myself if anything could reignite my passion for teaching, it would be Edison Park.
My current Principal Ms. (Sherri) Wipf offered me a job teaching 4th grade math. She doesn’t know it, but when I got in my car that day I sobbed for what seemed like an eternity. Then when she showed me the classroom weeks later, I walked out of the room and found my painted tile I created 27 years ago right outside the door. Coincidence, or fate? After the past few weeks, I’m believing it may have been the latter.
My students mean the world to me. I tell them each and every year they are “my kids” and will always be “my kids.” Math education is ridiculously important to me. The answers to math problems are entirely straightforward, which as an individual who is right-brained, is genuinely satisfying. In teaching math, I’ve realized that the journey is almost as, if not, more important than the destination. So in my math class, we continually work on the journey, the strategies, the paths our brains took to find the right answer. Sometimes we all travel completely different paths, but end up at the same destination; and it’s beautiful.
Teachers are tasked with such vastly important jobs. I perform my job with the utmost responsibility. Most of the benchmarks I teach people use daily in their adult lives. The skills I teach will eventually help students budget their finances, purchase items at a store, fill up their gas tanks, tip a waiter, or even be able to measure ingredients for a meal they’re making for their family. I explain this to my students with each lesson, and the question “when will I ever use this?” is never asked in my classroom. They know, and I know, how imperative every single moment in our classroom is, no matter what path in life they take.
When I asked my students what I should speak about tonight they gave me similar answers, “Your favorite things!”, to which they continued “Us! Edison Park! Chess! Kora! Your Husband! Fractions! When kids show their work!” I tried to do that list justice tonight.
To be standing here is an absolute honor. I would not be half the teacher I am today without the support of my husband; my packer of lunches, lesson plan discusser, bad day listener, great day celebrator, amazing teacher, ultimate father, and my best friend. I couldn’t possibly imagine the year my daughter joins me as a kindergartener at Edison Park getting any more magical… but it did.
This Golden Apple is for my students, Edison Park, my colleagues, my family, and most importantly little shy 8-year old Kelsey who now fully understands how a little bit of magic can take you a long way.
Kelsey Olsen, fourth grade math teacher at Edison Park Creative and Expressive Arts School, is a 2025 Golden Apple recipient. She delivered this speech at the April 25 Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Banquet, where she was honored with five other Lee County teachers. Each year, the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools selects six outstanding teachers as Golden Apples. The News-Press and Naples Daily News are publishing each of their speeches in the coming days and weeks.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: ‘Kind, smart, intuitive’ third-grade teacher inspired her. Now she’s paying it forward.
Reporting by Kelsey Olsen / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
